This invention relates to a latch, and in particular, to a squeezable latch for a glove compartment.
Most vehicles include a glove compartment which may be used to hold various items such as gloves, maps and the like. The door of the glove compartment is movable between a first closed position wherein access to the interior of the glove compartment is denied and a second opened position wherein access to the interior of the glove compartment is allowed. The glove compartment door includes a bolt assembly which maintains the door of the glove compartment in the closed position. A latch is used to actuate the bolt assembly and release the door of the glove compartment such that the door may be moved to the opened position.
Heretofore, latches have taken on many different configurations. Prior squeeze latches have included a housing with a pair of sliders extending from opposite ends. A user squeezes the sliders towards the interior of the housing so as to actuate the bolt assembly to release the door of the glove compartment. While these types of squeeze latches are operational, assembly of these types of latches is difficult. Numerous component parts must be assembled in order to construct these prior squeeze latches. Many of these parts are small which adds to the difficulty in assembly.
Therefore, it is a primary object and feature of the present invention to provide a squeeze latch which has few component parts.
It is a further object and feature of the present invention to provide a squeeze latch which is easy to assemble and to manufacture.
It is a still further object and feature of the present invention to provide a squeeze latch which is easy to operate and inexpensive to manufacture.
In accordance with the present invention, a squeeze latch is provided for actuating a bolt assembly for a glove compartment door. The squeeze latch includes a housing having a cavity extending partially therein. Guide tracks extend along a wall of the housing. A slider partially extends into the cavity of the housing. The slider is maintained within the housing by first and second projections which extend from the slider and snap fit into the guide track.
The slider is slidable along the guide tracks between a first non-actuating position and a second actuating position. A spring biases the slider toward the first non-actuating position. In operation, the user presses the slider against the bias of the spring toward the second actuating position. As the slider approaches the second actuating position, the bolt assembly releases the glove compartment door so as to allow the door to be opened and to allow access to the interior of the glove compartment. When the user releases the slider, the spring biases the slider to the non-actuating position so as to reset the bolt assembly. When the glove compartment door is closed, the bolt assembly maintains the door in the closed position.